


Slowburn

by greendaisy



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24676273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greendaisy/pseuds/greendaisy
Summary: It takes time for MC and Jaehee to officially start their relationship, but eventually, they do.
Relationships: Kang Jaehee/Main Character (Mystic Messenger)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Slowburn

**Author's Note:**

> _[Bracketed] text is content transcribed from Jaehee’s good ending._   
> 

  
Jaehee has been telling herself she just hasn’t found the right man for years now. One day, the right one would come along and her heart would flutter and she would live happily ever after…or, far more realistically, end up in a reasonably comfortable marriage. Girls, on the other hand, she has always had a fondness for. She remembers being little, playing with other children on the playground and wanting to be the prince just so she could save the beautiful princess stuck in the tower. “Girls can’t be princes,” they’d say.

…no, she supposed they couldn’t.

She assumed her first kiss would be with a boy, but the first time she actually imagined it she was fourteen and her fantasies revolved around the captain of the women’s soccer team. Surely, these were just intrusive thoughts. Girls were beautiful, the occasional thought of running her hand over every swell and curve of a woman’s body meant absolutely nothing. Mostly, Jaehee avoided the topic of romance altogether. In the eyes of everyone around her, she was a strong student and very modest. She was someone her parents would be proud of and was happy to keep it that way. In the end, her first kiss and her first time were both with men and both fairly average experiences.

Through high school and part of college, everyone approved of Jaehee’s choice to focus on her studies. Afterward, when she started getting criticism for her lack of suitors (and advice, so much unwanted advice) she brushed it off, compensating for it with her long hours and high-profile job. She may be alone, but she was a confident and financially stable woman, and all would be well. That was, until MC showed up in the chatroom.

At first, Jaehee was suspicious. Among a group of high profile people, someone breaching their way into a private app with top-tier security measures should always garner a good amount of suspicion. After learning a little more about the situation, she was convinced the woman must be incompetent. Maybe she was very young? Teenagers were known to be impulsive, perhaps that was what convinced her to be led by a complete stranger to break into someone else’s apartment over such an obvious ruse.

Except once MC arrived the chatroom she was cautious in dealing with the rest of the members. She came to trust them all quickly, but it was reassuring to see the woman did have some sense. She was kind and bubbly and in no time had committed herself to a huge role in an organization she had no real reason to join. MC encouraged all of the RFA, but she seemed to pay special attention to Jaehee.

Jaehee looked forward to chatting with her during her breaks.

After only a few days, MC was already standing up against Mr.Han for her. A major executive of one of the largest companies in the world getting angry at his secretary for not doing the job he paid her to do, and this woman was brave enough and foolish enough to tell him ‘There must be a reason why Jaehee didn’t do it…Calm down first.’. Initially, it made Jaehee nervous. The last thing she wanted was to be responsible for a conflict among members of the RFA. Thankfully, Jumin’s cool head and MC’s politeness kept that from happening, but MC never stopped voicing her concerns or encouraging Jaehee to try new things and take breaks when the workload got too heavy.

Jaehee started calling MC whenever it felt like she was drowning. The woman’s “cheer up!”s made Jaehee feel awake and ready to take on whatever task was set in front of her no matter how little sleep she had gotten the night before. She could talk about anything with MC and know that she would never be harsh or judgemental, even after only a few days of knowing each other. When there were things she did not want to talk about, MC did not pry. The increasing list of a special requests for a growing guest list told her how smart and well-spoken MC was, and how hard she must have been working for the party. This woman was amazing.

_This woman made her heart flutter._

Feeling this way about another woman wasn’t normal. Jaehee Kang was a business owner, a primary member in a high-profile charity organization, and the only remaining member of her immediate family. Image meant a great deal to her. Her status as a Catholic woman meant a great deal to her. She tried to convince herself these feelings were platonic. Jaehee had never met MC, they had never done or said anything that couldn’t be said between two friends. Female friendships were often particularly emotional and intimate. They were just friends, and that would make everything okay.

Unfortunately, that did nothing to change the fact that Jaehee had never felt this way about anyone else before.

* * *

It was a big decision to quit her job, or rather get herself fired, but that had been a long time coming. A long time of unbearable hours and tasks that were well outside of her job description. Jumin Han took whatever she could give, more than he should have. Babysitting his cat was a questionable task, but some assistants did that. Then he gave her the job of presenting the coffee shop proposal, a task she should never have been put in charge of. Doing the research for a presentation was one thing, but making her do the job? Asking her to purposefully slack off on it, sacrifice her integrity, for his own personal vendetta against his father’s carousel of girlfriends? It made her…angry.

MC was a stark contrast to her boss. She was kind and bright, always cheering her on. She pointed out how much Jaehee had liked this project, that Jaehee did not have to give up her soul to her job, and she was right on all counts. Jaehee had something she wanted to do now, and under the warmth of MC’s encouragement she was sure she could do it. She would open her own café, and she had never felt more certain of who she wanted to run it with.

Of course, if MC rejected her proposal, that would be okay too. Surely, MC would be supportive even if she did not want to the responsibility of running a whole café, but Jaehee hoped desperately MC would, and spent a few more hours than she needed to agonizing over the possibilities before deciding when to ask. The party would be the best time, the very first time she would be able to meet the woman in person. She wanted to be able to watch MC’s expression when she asked.

Though she was the one to tell MC to be patient, the last couple of days before the party were nerve-wracking. She pressed her outfit twice after getting it back from the dry cleaners, ran over her to-do list for the party three times, and even managed to do some much-needed deep-cleaning of her apartment. The night before, she tried to go to bed early only to end up with a cup of coffee in her hands trying, and failing, to pay attention to her favorite Zen musical at 3 am. She was going to get to see MC. She was going to show her how well she was doing now, and offer a wonderful woman a piece of her dream. The last time hours passed this slowly, she was still in college.

Jaehee slipped through the large double doors after checking off the last of the names on the guest list. As expected, MC had done a spectacular job gathering up a large number of diverse guests, including plenty of charity organizations and rich benefactors to fund them. She worked her way around the room in search of MC, hoping to make her proposal before the auction began and the party kicked into full-swing. She mingled with guests in the process, and it took some getting used to not to introduce herself as Jumin Han’s Chief Executive Assistant. A hand reached out and tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned, expecting to find another guess only to meet up with Yoosung’s familiar stare. His tie was a little off-kilter and he looked worked up enough that Jaehee would not be entirely surprised if he started bouncing.

“Jaehee, I finally found you! MC’s here! She’s—” he swiveled his head around, expecting to find her with Zen still, only to spot a well-dressed elderly couple in their place. His eyes bugged out as his looked around frantically. Jaehee had no idea what MC looked like, but she found herself scanning the room too. Zen sauntered up, moving urgently through the crowd with surprising grace.

“Jaehee! You had something to ask MC, right? Trust fund kid is over there hogging her! He wouldn’t let me go with them, either. I don’t know what he’s up to, but if its anything shady I’m gonna—” Zen speaks of Jumin with his usual venom.

“Oh, thank you. Excuse me you two,” Jaehee side stepped them both and made her way to the microphone. She knew Jumin had wanted MC as an assistant, but she didn’t think he would work this quickly. She’d need to distract him. Setting aside all of her worries, she smoothed down her skirt one last time before stepping up to the mic.

 _[“One- Two- Mic Test. Is Mr.Han in the party room? If you are, Mr.Han, you must return the RFA member you just took with you. Oh, there you are. Pardon me, everyone. I was looking for someone. Mr. Han has been hogging one of our organization members so I had to take the mic. I assume that Mr.Han has begun personally recruiting candidates to fill his empty Assistant position. But if anyone knows someone who’s qualified to be Mr.Han’s next Chief Assistant, then please give recommendations.”]_ She had found him earlier in her speech, but if it had been unclear the throng of women beelining toward the edge of the room acted like a neon sign. Jaehee did her best to hide her self-satisfied smirk. MC stepped away from the new crowd, looking up toward the stage in confusion. Beautiful, is Jaehee’s first thought as her heart begins to race, she’s so beautiful. _[“Now that I know I know where Mr.Han is, I’ll leave the mic. Thank you for your cooperation.”]_

Jaehee kept eye contact with MC as she moved from the stage to greet her. If she looked away for even a couple seconds, it would be all too easy to lose her in a crowd this large. Now is the time, and she wouldn’t let anything else get in her way. The words spill from her mouth the moment she gets close enough to MC, and the woman listens with endless patience as Jaehee rambles her way into her proposal.

_[“Found you…MC. Look at all the people here. It’s all because of you. You did so well…I don’t know what to say. I am very happy right now. Very happy to finally meet you. It’s the first time I’m meeting you…but I feel like we’re old friends. Do you remember…all the conversations that we had? I really wanted to see you, I mean it. I was so curious what you’d be like that I barely slept yesterday. But seeing you in person like this…I actually feel more excited. Feeling excited at seeing a girl, how strange. Love between a man and a woman is beautiful…but I think a friendship between two women can be just as powerful. I’d like to become better friends with you. This is a bit awkward, but I look forward to being friends with you. Oh…and I knew Mr.Han would try to recruit you, from the moment I heard he took you somewhere._

_But more than that…I have a better proposal to make. Now that I’m not working for Mr.Han, I will no longer be working at a big corporation. Instead I want to make a fresh start from a very very small place. I’ve made the decision that it’s better for me to work among people than live inside a cubicle. I had several thoughts…but to be realistic I checked my bank account. I was quite surprised with how much I saved during the past two and a half years. The amount itself isn’t much…but it is enough to create a comfortable space for my own. And…if you’d like I’d like to create it with you. So that…it’s not my small space, but ‘our’ space. All you need to contribute is your ideas and positive mind. It’ll be at least 20 times more fun than being an assistant. MC…won’t you create a space of our own with me? Will you be my partner?”]_

The smile MC gave Jaehee was one of the most fantastic things she had ever seen, and she knew the answer to her question long before the words left MC’s mouth. Jaehee remembers it as one of the best days of her entire life.

* * *

Opening a cafe, as it turns out, is a fantastic way to get into fights. The first fight they had ever had was about cups. The little building they leased was still barren and grey with half-functional lights. Their floor was plastic tarps over concrete, and they could barely move around between all of the mug and paper cup options laid out on the floor like some horrible prank. The walls reeked of paint fumes and they were working nearly 16-hour days, with the knowledge that they were sinking nearly all of their savings into an establishment that was statistically likely to fail.

“These cups are cost-effective, efficient to wash, and the perfect size for most drinks!”

“This one is the exact same size, Jaehee!” MC started pacing back and forth to try and relieve some of her aggression, only to spin on her heel and head into the back room. “I need a minute! I’ll be back.”

Jaehee knew how foolish she was being as soon as MC left. They were both tired, and while cups were an important part of the café, there was no reason for them to be yelling like this. She brought MC onto this project for her ideas, it would be foolish to ignore them entirely. MC came back into the room after a few minutes, and both of them were tripping over their apologies almost immediately.

“You’re more stylish than I am, MC, I’m sure your cup choice makes more sense.”

“Jaehee, I’ll trust your decision. You’re the one who has done the research, I’m sure these will be great.”

“We just need to take a break,” comes from both of their mouths at the exact same moment. MC bursts into laughter, and Jaehee follows close behind.

“Well,” MC said, voice still breaking from the occasional giggle, “let’s take that break and then…we can make a list of things we want to see in the design? There has to be something in here we both like.”

“That sounds perfect, MC.”

They picked out everything together, the location, the wall color, even the molding when they found out it needed to be replaced. The fights they got into only seemed to pull them closer once they made up. They were learning how to deal with each other, even at their worst.

“People who open a café together stay together,” MC teased once. It was a terrible joke, something Jaehee expected from Luciel rather than her best friend, but Jaehee found herself genuinely laughing. MC could always make Jaehee smile, and the longer they spent together the more they touched. At first, they never touched each other. Even when they closed the deal on the building for the café, they both shook the realtor’s hand, but not each other’s. Instead, they showed their affection through smiles and laughter. The first time they touched, they were doing renovations on the building. MC was putting up some shelves and Jaehee was walking behind her with a set of utensils for the kitchen. MC shifted like she was going to step back into her, so Jaehee put a hand on her arm to let MC know she was there. Suddenly, it was something they had been doing forever.

Then, it was the primping. Both of them worked long hours, and during the renovations appearance did not really matter. However, after opening the café, they found themselves scrambling to remain put together while running around. Jaehee worked an office job, she had mostly just done paperwork and made phone calls. She never had to worry if she sweat off her makeup or that her shirt would come untucked anytime except when she went to the restroom.

“Jaehee!” MC called out to Jaehee just as she was about to leave the kitchen one day. MC paid no mind to Jaehee’s confusion, running her fingers through Jaehee’s hair to smooth the flyaways before borrowing a bobby pin from her own bun to pin back the hair around Jaehee’s face. “There. Your hair was a mess. It’s getting really long now though!”

They had crossed yet another line, but this was still normal. Friends helped each other get ready. It was still normal when MC came all the way to the café with a mostly-zipped dress just to have Jaehee help her. It was still normal when Jaehee brought all her makeup over to the café so MC could help her with her eyeliner. It was still normal when Jaehee found herself watching MC carefully safety pin a gap in Jaehee’s shirt. What was not normal was the feeling it gave Jaehee between her thighs.

Jaehee tried to convince herself it was a fluke, a totally unrelated and meaningless reaction. She was more than happy just to look at MC, to have her around, to be her friend and keep her close and happy. The feelings never lessened though. Sometimes, Jaehee even found herself giving in. She would ask MC to help her put on lipstick, and watch in awe in the mirror as the most amazing woman she had ever met concentrated so intensely on her lips for just a few seconds or let her heart skip a beat when MC asked about her day as if she hadn’t been there watching for the entirety of it. Little mundane things that friends do, things she knew she should think nothing of.

The decision to move in together was purely practical, Jaehee was quick to announce to the entire chatroom after Luciel had called her and MC a ‘cute couple uwu’. Their leases ended two weeks apart from one another, and it would be much easier to make business decisions if they were together most of the time (though for the most part they already were), or at least heading back to the same place. Plus, it took away some of the strain of paying the rent, which left more money they could invest back into their café. The fact that it felt like the best decision Jaehee had ever made was just an added bonus.

After spending so much time together because of the coffee shop, domestic squabbles were nothing. MC made sure Jaehee got to bed on time, and they both ate a healthy breakfast together (sometimes on the way over) even if their lunch habits still tended toward convenience store meals. In a lot of ways, it was refreshing to have each other around after work. Most of the day they were busy acting as managers, it was nice to come home and have the opportunity to be together as friends. Their schedules were hectic, and during the day plans got changed and switched around, but at night suppliers were closed and the streets were dangerous and it left them with time they could always spend together. On Tuesdays, they had a standing movie night where they sat on the couch together and shared the huge fluffy blanket they had both simultaneously fallen in love with at the store. On nights they couldn’t sleep, the two of them tried out the sample bags of coffee companies sent their way and chatted until someone yawned and the other sent them back to bed. They fought about whether or not to keep the windows open.

For the most part, they were incredibly happy. They both knew there was something more to their relationship. They would find themselves up in the middle of the night again, but inches from each other’s face, looking into each other’s eyes and smiling like idiots. And yet, they were just friends. They were just friends when they cuddled up together on the couch. They were just friends when they brushed their teeth together in the morning. They were even ‘just friends’ when they woke up on top of each other, half-dressed and still slightly wine drunk after an RFA party.

Like most things between them, the change comes to them like the first step off a ski lift: sudden, fast, but a long time coming.

* * *

“Jaehee!” MC called, closing the front door while trying to keep the plastic bag in her hand from twisting around. Jaehee knew that voice well, she had a treat.

“What did you get?” Jaehee came out from her bedroom, already dressed in sweats and trying to peek into the bag. MC moved past her, shoving what looked like pints of ice cream into the freezer. She kept one out, tucked the bag into their bag saver, and grabbed two spoons for them to share with.

“It’s coffee ice cream from the Blue Bird Parlor,” MC explained, “they had five different bean varieties, so I got us one of each.” Jaehee acknowledged it with a smile and a soft hum.

“Are we still watching The Jalapeño Topping Was Pretty Spicy? I know you don’t usually like watching Zen’s musicals on movie night.”

“It’s fine, Jaehee. Is it in the DVD player already or should I put it in?” MC set the ice cream down before getting changed, only to find the main menu screen already up on the television when she looked up. “Well, that answers my question. Let me get changed and I’ll be right there.”

The two of them snuggled up on the couch, blanket over their laps while they ate spoonfuls of ice cream. Their spoons bumped together and they caught each other’s gaze. For a few moments they were stuck as they often got, marveling at each other, at something beautiful that they could never quite reach. But that night, something broke.

MC brought her hand up to Jaehee’s cheek, cupping it gently, the tension between them palpable, pushing the boundaries between ‘friends’ and ‘more’. This might be just another Tuesday move night to anyone else who had been watching them for so many years, but they knew otherwise. Jaehee’s favorite scene was coming up. Zen, captured by the enemy and in chains awaiting death. They offered him safety if he joined their cause. He declined, of course, like all good protagonists. Both of them enjoyed that he just so happened to be shirtless, but Jaehee said it was her favorite because she could see the refusal in his eyes. Jaehee lets out a little breath, rolling her lips together as she watches MC intently. Years ago, she said she would be happy just getting to look at MC, but was she really? The kiss MC presses to her lips is so gentle and quick that Jaehee sits stuck in her own head for a couple of beats before coming to her senses. By that time, MC has let go and is already back to resting her head on Jaehee’s shoulder, watching the screen intently.

“I love you,” Jaehee says, so quiet it’s nearly a whisper.

“I love you too.” They would talk about this, what it meant for them, later that night curled up in bed together. It had been five years, what was another hour? This was Jaehee’s favorite scene, after all.


End file.
